Cetta Cheese Chatter

Foldformed Copper Cuffs

2012-02-13T20:28:00.001-10:00

I have been working feverishly on a series of copper and leather cuffs for the the upcoming Philadelphia Flower Show. The theme this year is Hawaii, and they have asked select Hawaiian artists to participate in the Hawaiian Village. Art gallery owner Kathy from Alley Kat Art was one of those artists who will be representing Hawaii, and she is taking art from her Gallery.
The cuffs are embellished with bronze flowers, patinaed brass stampings and flower or sea themed etching. Here are 4 I have finished.

copper etched foldformed cuff with bronze hibiscus

brass bee on a brass etched cuff. The liver of sulfur patinaed this sort of blue/black/purple, and it turned out glossy....

another view...it's actually much darker, more like the photo above....

bronze posey on a copper foldformed and etched cuff

...another view

Brass free form cuff with mermaid head in the center. The patina is an iridescent blue/purple

Both sides of the cuff have the etched double mermaid tail

I haven't assembled the leather ones yet, and time is running out. I accepted a job in LA and will probably be leaving this weekend or early next week....the copper etching/foldforming as well as the embellishments are all finished, but the assembly is not. .... after that they still need to be lacquered and waxed ......EEEEK!
So- I need to finish up the cuffs, clean the shop and pack everything away for while I'm gone, and get my DH well stocked with supplies for while i am gone.
Tomorrow i need to take Sookie into town to get her shots, and then come home to finish the laundry and MOW!
good thing I work best under pressure.......

Another Day at the Beach.and New Art

2012-01-30T23:54:00.003-10:00

It was a beautiful day at the beach! It started out overcast, and then it cleared up with cooling ocean breezes, warm sand and wonderful rolling waves. I took a 4 mile walk on the bike path along the beach
and then i played in the waves and soaked in the rays ...
here are some picks from my walk.....

the ocean always makes me feel soooo GOOD!

While I was out and about town, I dropped off some new Jewelry Art Pieces at Alley Kat Art Gallery.

The Gallery owner has been asked to participate in the Philadelphia Flower Show in February....the theme this year is "Hawaii". She asked if I would let her take some of my pieces to exhibit at the show. Yay!

These are the new pieces I dropped off. My copper cuffs are getting more and more detailed...i really love making them.......

fold formed and etched copper cuff with a brass seahorse

Fold formed and etched copper cuff with brass muse vintage stamping

Fold formed and etched copper cuff with copper bezel set fossil (i forgot what it's called, lol)
it's etched with fish and waves.....

Steel heart chain with vintage watch movement set in fine silver bezel with a pearl - conservative side

...and the reverse wild side, stainless steel bezel with glass doll eyeball.....

WELCOME LILYANA CONCETTA

2012-01-17T22:47:00.000-10:00

Yep. Named after ME...at least her middle name, that is.

Maggie and Lily

No pictures, pleez....damn paparazzi

Isn't she a beauty! She joins her sister Maggie...and her mom - my niece - Jenni and her DH Jim.

Born 1-10-2012 at 1:39 pm...8 lbs 4 oz, 21.5 inches long with black hair and blue eyes... i am so delighted!

STORMY WEATHER

2012-01-17T21:55:00.036-10:00

High wind gusts of 60mph and heavy rain decimated our newly mowed front lawn, strewing it with iron wood boughs and small branches. Thankfully we had the 100 foot trees trimmed last month, so we didn't lose any trees...... the branches and boughs that fell were only small and bushy.! The canvas car port that houses Lance's jeep and the mowing tractors was torn from it's poles, but fortunately was still strong enough to prevent MY carport -which was picked up by the wind and sent crashing into the poles - from destroying Lance's car!
We spent a soggy morning picking up only enough of the mess to clear a path for the gas man so he could refuel our near empty tanks. The temperatures here had dropped to the high forties-early fifties (January is our coldest month) two days before (blankie time) , but these were warm winds and rains. Tomorrow, when the rain stops, we will access the full damage and start the reconstruction of the car ports and clean up the debris.
yecchh.

On another note, for the last week or so Sookie our dog has been chasing *something* in my studio shop. She crawls under my desks, around my boxes onto the shop shelves- and not being exactly dainty - she knocks things down and makes a mess of things.
I thought she was after daddy long legs....until i saw - WHILE I WAS WORKING AT MY jewelers bench - a mouse jump up on a foil covered chocolate rose that was in a jar...take a nibble and run away...again and again. really a ballsy little creature. no more than 10 inches from me! In daylight!

the traps.....

Lance has these dandy VICTOR mice traps, that entice the mouse in, but it can't get out.....until you LET it out. He thinks they are cute and doesn't like to kill them...
.....so i set 4 traps around the shop, baiting them with dog food. Yep . caught 3 mice. next day i caught 2 more. teeny baby ones and a bigger adult one. Then, nothing. and more nothing. .i switched the bait to american cheese.
.... the traps were sprung....but no mouse...AND...the wouldn't eat it..... so i switched again...this time, . chocolate chips...
yummy.
2 more mice. then 2 more mice...and 2 more. Now I am up to 11! Lance says I have to keep setting them until i go a week without seeing any, or having any traps sprung...or Sookie loses interest because they aren't there anymore.
Hmmmm.
I take the little buggers out to the farthest corner of the back acres and let them out into the adjacent orchard.

releasing the mouse

Pics from Art Walk- my 1st art show!

2011-12-04T16:57:00.001-10:00

Last night was my art show at Alley Kat Art in Kapaa. I have never shown before- not even craft fairs - only on my blog or Etsy store, and mostly i just give what I make away. SCARY......
but what a delightful evening it turned out to be!

The art community sponsors an Art Walk once a month. We had wine and beer and food and a terrific band and fire dancers. Kathy, the store owner, did an amazing job displaying my art.

She displayed my art on her own art - she is a fabulous glass artist - and I love how she enhanced my work.

Kathy and I at the Gallery....

I have always had an ~~irrational~~ fear of showing my art and actually selling it. Sales on Etsy have always been wishy washy and sporadic......but last night was fabulously validating. Being introduced as the "featured artist" sounded so foreign to me, but i had no choice and was forced to converse with the crowd. Yes, I said CROWD.
...and the words they spoke humbled me and VALIDATED me.
Sales were excellent and i learned a lot. i have a better sense now of what sizes to make and new ideas inspired by customer comments. i made valuable connections and met terrific new friends that share a kindred spirit.
i'm also glad that i had an array of art that appealed to all age groups and any pocketbook. The form folded copper cuffs flew off the shelves, so i will be busy this week making more...and i'm going to add some of my pewter bird necklaces and angels, too.
whew. i'm really glad it's over.

My First Art Show

2011-11-28T22:42:00.000-10:00

This Saturday I will be the guest artist at Alley Kat Art Gallery in Kapaa. There will be a wine reception and music and entertainment. If you live here on the island, or are visiting - please stop by!

http://www.alleykatart.com/gallery.html My work will be featured there for the next 2 months.

Although the flyer only shows a bisque moth necklace, the gallery will also be displaying a collection of my etched and form folded bracelets as well as my signature theme jewelry featuring hands, skulls and eyeballs teamed together with found objects and fired metals. Originally I was to show in February, and I had hoped to display some of my new line of leather cuffs and purses, accented with leather birds and vintage buttons, but this came up on short notice and the Holidays take precedence over making art.

I am excited!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-31T23:48:00.000-10:00

Mama (witch), Me (zombieish person) and Sky. Vince is behind Sky but you can't really see him....

Today was my mama's favorite holiday....she loved it even more than Christmas. We lived in a HUGE Spanish house on 2 acres, set back from the street with 100 foot redwood and pine trees in the front. It was smack in the middle of San Jose, Calif ( the bird avenue house). Every Halloween my mom would create elaborate decorations- from full sized coffin boxes on the terrace ....with herself inside as a living corpse....to witches and ghosts hung from the trees that swept down and over unsuspecting trick or treaters. Homegrown pumpkins and cornstalks were everywhere, We always had the MOST trick or treaters - those that dared to risk ringing the front doorbell, that is. Back then, after all the little ones had finished trick or treating, my mom would pack all the big kids into the station wagon and head down town for the annual (and LEGAL, then) parade of cars/kids/parents that cruised down the main boulevard and threw water balloons, tomatoes and eggs at each other. ... (and one year someone managed to throw a pumpkin pie through the window i didn't close fast enough that landed in my lap).... yes..... we really did that...... It's hard to explain, but there were unwritten rules that everybody knew and it was all very friendly and lots of fun. ...
I don't have a single picture of the house decorated....maybe no one took any....?

...and above are pics of a FABULOUS Halloween card my friend Joanne sent me. She made it, and it is hilarious! THANK you Joanne!
here are a few more pics from Halloween's of the past:

clockwise...Me, Lance, Vince, Brian (neighbor...devil), Sky

AROUND THE YARD....

2011-10-19T21:14:00.000-10:00

This is a beautiful mushroom I found growing on the side of the shop. I looked it up and it's called an Amethyst Deceiver. It isn't poisonous, but it doesn't taste good....

Isn't it beautiful!

..and this is a hawaiian tree snail...it was climbing up a heliconia.....it's HUGE! You never touch them without gloves because they carry killer bacteria.....

MORE Incredible Halloween Art - Large Matchbox Swap

2011-10-19T17:43:00.000-10:00

Recently I participated in a Matchbox Halloween Swap.....everyone was assigned a partner and you exchanged decorated and filled large matchboxes, one-on-one.
My partner was the extraordinary Kathy McElroy.
This is inside the box- all of the goodies were covered in autumn leaves...

Opening the box...

...deeper into the box...

leaves removed!

carved poppy

skelly ornament

..and I'm not done yet...there's more!

Haunted Halloween Spoon

...spoon hanging close-up
...and this is the matchbox!

outside

the other outside

the fabulous shadowbox created inside, and other goodies

a little closer

All my loot!

Thank you Kathy!

..as usual, you are way too generous -

what a WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN SWAP!

NEW ART

2011-10-18T10:15:00.001-10:00

I made a few pewter pieces- a penguin, and elephant and a gothic cross.....

and some copper wings

...and yes, this really is the fire patina....they are about 4 1/2 inches tall, perfect for a doll - the copper drills easily. The front is etched with the words "breathe" and "step left"...the backside of the wings are etched with feathers...

...I also finished up a Halloween Large matchbox Swap project, but I can't show that until my partner receives it, as well as 25 christmas matchboxes, for a swap.

This is a solid copper fold formed, etched glass eyeball bracelet cuff......I am really pleased with how it turned out.

This particular eyeball bracelet is already taken, but i'll be making another for the shop...unless I put it in a local art shop that has agreed to display some of my work.....(fingers crossed)

SISTER SURPRISE!

2011-10-17T20:22:00.002-10:00

Today i received a medium flat rate box in the mail...from my sister Gigi. For no reason....just BECAUSE!
I racked my brain, trying to remember if she'd told me about something she was sending. HMMMM....maybe some of that fabulous jam St. Mark had made?
Imagine the grin that came over my face when i opened the box and found this:

...which is probably what she found first and KNEW she needed to send to ME. We grew up on these cookies. They were a special treat...only I remember them being much BIGGER and they had slivered almonds on the bottom.....
but what to send to cushion the cookies?...... why cool halloween goodies, that's what!

I love Halloween....and Gigi sent me 2 ice cube trays of bones and fingers....big and little SPIDERS (I collect spiders- I have them everywhere and needed some new tenants) and

skelly dolls!

...blonde barbie type

a brunette dude

Two (yes TWO) creepy skelly dolls!
AM I LUCKY, or what?
Thank you , Gina Lopita Gustoff (her other name)

...words to live by.....

2011-10-06T07:26:00.000-10:00

The greatest Visionary of our time.......RIP.
...what now?

Eco Print Dyeing

2011-10-02T22:55:00.001-10:00

Today my talented fiber artist friend Lorri Scott from Los Gatos came over to my house for a play date. Lorri makes gorgeous dyed ribbons, scarves and clothing and lately she has been experimenting with eco friendly dyes. Lorri wanted to test various flowers, leaves, greenery and bark that are native to Kauai, and see what colors they might produce (or not!) on silk, linen and cotton - and i got to be her accomplice!
We tested hibiscus, eucalyptus (2 kinds), African tulip, guava leaves, black eyed susans, plumeria, bougainvillea, ferns...and more...you get the picture..... and also rusty objects...as well as copper.
It was a blast! Very exciting - i had so wanted to learn this!
We started the day with a long walk where we "gathered and gabbed" all around the acres called Common Ground and their garden ........and later we returned to Common Ground Restaurant for a scrumptious organic veggie lunch. Here are a few photos of Lorri at work. Next week Lorri returns, and I will post pics of the finished items..

misting....

wrapping....

a larger piece...wrapping....

rust eco dye
I, of course, did some dying and experimenting too! Right now I have a linen dress Lorri found at the thrift store, sitting in a vat of soda ash (from my fire pit) that I will eco print tomorrow. The soda ash serves as the mordant.
Lorri also left me all the ingredients to experiment and play with more of the eco dyeing process.
Fun! Fun! Fun!
I can't believe I didn't take any pics of our walk or lunch or us together - with faces...well next time!

Jameson and Lara's Country Wedding

2011-09-12T20:44:00.019-10:00

My wonderful nephew Jameson married his high school sweetheart Lara last Saturday at a lovely winery in Dixon, California. It was a country wedding, and the ceremony and reception were surrounded by an idyllic setting of acres and acres of grapevines and sunflowers. They had a vintage wagon for the gift table, country barbecue and a color old-time photo booth! Loads of fun, and Simply Gorgeous!

...an unexpected visitor - (hello mom) - HUGE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

2011-09-08T23:28:00.000-10:00

91 yrs today and going strong!

Today was my dad's 91st birthday! We celebrated with a spaghetti and sausage dinner (his favorite) and banana-coconut cream pie. He is here on Kauai with his best friends Gert and Don Clark and his girlfriend Marcia
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY DAD!

How I drill a teeny hole in an uneven surface

2011-08-26T19:34:00.000-10:00

I had made a dove necklace with a lovely Bahama blue swarovski crystal heart and decided to make a pair of matching earrings. The problem was, the earring doves were itty bitty and my 1/16 drill bit was too big. I have some tiny drills ( from harbor freight) and my drill press drilled the tail holes easily using a drill that said 66 or 99 on it. Not sure if that is the number size of the drill bit or not. Anyway, the hole thru the neck was another matter. i needed something that would hold my bird, wing side down, straight and firm. My solution was a hockey puck. yes, a HOCKEY PUCK! My nephew gave me 5 used ones from his team (new they are about a dollar or two a piece).
So here;s what i did and how you can do it too:
You will need a carving tool (i used a utility knife), a center punch, and a rotary tool (love my dremel stylus), a hockey pick and a small drill bit.

tiny drill bits, utility knife, rotary tool, hockey puck

Take the knife and cut out a small section from the hockey puck. make it deep and wide enough for whatever you need to hold. Do it in several passes, checking your progress with the object each time, until the part is held level and supported. I used a drill to help me with it too. Then decide where you want your hole to be, and center punch a starting divot - this is IMPORTANT! Otherwise, your drill bit will wander all over the place and scratch up your object....and it won't drill where you want it. OK.

Carve the hole...use a larger drill bit to help if necessary

Drill! Keep your rotary tool/drill bit straight and be sure your object is level

I used my baby finger to give me solid and steady support while I drilled. The drill bit was so tiny that once it went all the way thru it was stuck in the bird. This is ok. Carefully I unwound the bird off of the drill bit. If you try to pull the object off of the drill bit, you will break the bit...it is very fragile. Also, don't push hard on the drill bit when drilling.....let the drill do the work.

Bird stuck on drill bit...temporatily, LOL!

And VOILA! Tiny holes made, Earrings finished!

Tiny dove earrings

large dove pendant with 28mm crystal heart

Fold Forming Cuffs Finished

2011-08-26T11:12:00.001-10:00

I finished the fold forming cuffs I featured on the pickle post I blogged about recently. Here's the 1st one. The stamping is attached with brass nuts and bolts.

This is a fairly large cuff- It would fit on a large wrist or on a forearm. The focal is a vintage brass stamping of the Greek Muse of Music and Dance...lyric poetry.....
The 2nd cuff is plain- the patina is gorgeous.....it is a torch patina, but like a chemical patina it may change over time.

Steelgrass Farm Chocolate Tour with Friends

2011-08-23T09:16:00.002-10:00

Pam and I with "dragon fruit"

Today two good friends from the mainland ( Pam and Faith!) were visiting on Kauai and we went to the Steelgrass Farm for a chocolate tour. Steelgrass is owned by Tony Lydgate and his family and they host a 3 hour tour of organic fruit/veggy tasting (well one veggie-a watermelon radish). It is a sustainable 8 acre farm and the tour ends with a look at their cacao orchard and a dark chocolate tasting of 11 dark chocolates from around the world. You get to taste each chocolate without knowing which one is which, and rate its attributes, just like a wine tasting - all the while you are shown chocolate making small machinery and you learn chocolate's history and how it is made. We were also given dried seeds( with "nibs" inside) and milk chocolate covered nibs, to try. The tour itself takes you from tree to tree and plant to plant and our guide was very funny with great stories and anecdotes. We saw many varieties of palm, viewed their bee hives, sampled their award winning palm blossom honey on bamboo skewers, had sugar cane we rubbed in Tahitian limes wedges, watermelon radishes, longans (dragon eyes, which is what the fruit looks like when it is peeled), sapote (yuck!), star fruit, lilikoi (passion fruit), native oranges and we all sucked nectar from ginger blossoms. We also saw many varieties of bamboo and papyrus, vanilla bean orchids (with vanilla bean pods!), bread fruit, and of course the cacao trees and their gorgeous chocolate pods! It was very interesting and and mostly delicious! They also had a few artists in residence on the property that are constructing bamboo sculptures. The weather was gorgeous and it was a most enjoyable morning.
Afterwards we went to Mermaids for lunch (Ahi wraps and hibiscus lemonade tea!) and then we walked around Kapaa town, visiting the galleries and shops. We capped the afternoon with drinks at the upstairs Olympic cafe and bar, overlooking Kapaa town.
I had a great day with terrific friends.

my sad and sole cacao pod ( but now i know how to plant the seeds!)

my cacao tree is rangy and not very tree-like

Safe and Easy Pickle

2011-08-20T19:30:00.002-10:00

I decided to try foldforming copper. I had never done this before, but i watched a few you tube videos and it looked easy enough to try. I cut my copper, made a t-fold in it , pounded the fold in the vise, annealed it, opened it, pounded the folds flat and repeated the sequence. I also turned all my raw edges under and pounded them so that the edges would be smooth. After the last anneal, I shaped it into a bracelet shape with a bracelet mandrel and delrin hammer. Now I needed to clean it up (remove the firescale created by the heat from the torch) before work hardening it and giving it a final patina.
Normally I would use Sparex - which is a somewhat toxic. I had read that pickle was called pickle because it was often just pickle juice. For this experiment, last week I had saved the giant plastic container full of pickle juice that formerly housed some pickles from Costco we had devoured I took the whole jar and heated it in the microwave for a minute - Sparex (and most pickles) always work better heated.

Costco giant pickle jar full of pickle juice
So here's the bracelet before.....

...and the same piece 1/2 an hour later.

Woohoo - no more firescale! Then I scrubbed the copper with dishwasher soap and a green scrubby. It came out sparkly clean!

\\\

this shows the scrubby and the dishwashing liquid....it's a wider bracelet I also made- but it'has all of its firescale gone too!

Safe and Easy - pretty cool, huh!?!

Leather Love

2011-08-19T19:23:00.000-10:00

I really have been working on new projects. I just don't post.....
this is a new pewter piece. it;s a teeny tiny gargoyle firgurine i made from a plastic gary levi original I made a mold and then cast it in pewter.

.
Another project is a wedding gift- so until i send it to the recipient I can't post any pics. Suffice to say that I made it much more complicated than I needed too....so it is taking forever.....and I have my doubts I will be making a second one for another upcoming wedding.....
...and then there is the LEATHER.
I really really love working with leather.
I started on one purse........I gave it black piping and black appliques against a solid turquoise base. I used solid brass rivets and vintage cast iron rings.....all that is left to do is sew up the sides...the SIX LAYERS OF LEATHER sides. My machines (even my vintage singer hand cranked 66) won't go through it....so of it all goes to the WIP pile (work in progress - you know, that plastic bag stuffed under the bench and forgotten about) . I'm thinking of taking it with me to the mainland and attempting to sew it on my sister's machines....she has professional super fancy heavy duty ones....

this purse does not have its side seams sewn together yet....this is the front

...this is the back.......again not sewn or blocked....

...and so I set out to make ANOTHER purse. This one is red and black. It has cool red and black lizard print lining. It does not have more than 4 layers, anywhere.
oh why oh why can't I do something on a small scale and uncomplicated? and why do I make up patterns and not test them first? and what made me thing this would work in leather?
aaack! wonky wonky wonky

front..- unblocked It's actually pretty round and even)

the back, still unblocked
well i did get the machine to sew through it. and the bird appliques turned out ok....and I finally found vintage buttons that made cool eyes.... but the final finishing around the main zipper is just not working out. leather tubes do not turn right side out very easily.....and you can't just grab onto the leather like you do fabric because it will mar the leather.

inside offending tube edge

inside magnetic pocket

so instead of sewing the the tubes at the top together I'm going to make facings and turn those and sew them down.....if that looks too sloppy...and i think it will, then i will rip out the top zipper (going around the top curve makes the zipper look wavy, and I don't like it) and make a new leather facing for the top edge ... then I will just add a magnetic snap to keep it shut or add an insert with the zipper.......
or it will go into the WIP pile for some other year.
i lose my patience and interest quickly... i want to try some copper etching, fold forming and enameling next.......

Life in the Tropics...

2011-08-18T23:59:00.001-10:00

I am pretty ok with most critters....Lord knows we have our share here on Kauai.....centipedes, cane spiders, geckos, chickens, rats, mice....but only one creature totally unnerves me. I usually see it scampering from under wet palm fronds or on the tool shed door when i open it to the light....very rarely in the house.... but .....
i grabbed a halter top from our open closet and slipped it on as I walked into the kitchen
....now it could have already been on the shirt, or dropped from the ceiling (baby geckos do this all the time) or flown in from the dog door (Sookie likes to find things outside and bring them in to ~~torture~~ play with)...who knows?.......but i felt the tie from the halter tickle my neck, so i brushed my hand against it...and then i felt something on my arm, so i shook it..
.....and off IT flew..
A huge hawaiian COCKROACH. gross.gross.gross! I SCREAMED. I stood on one foot - paralyzed in this...um.. ridiculous position.
Lance came rushing in and laughed and laughed...
then he squished it into oblivion.
I was so grateful.
I am such a sissy.
WARNING! This You Tube video is disgusting. It gives me the creeps....just saying....

CHRISTMAS IS JULY!

2011-07-16T11:38:00.000-10:00

I have been so blessed this month that I have decided to thank all of my loyal customers with a CHRISTMAS IN JULY Sale in my Etsy Shop. EVERYTHING is 20% off! Just use the coupon code XMASINJULY when you check out.
Thank you for all of your patronage and encouragement!

Heads Up!

2011-07-07T00:55:00.000-10:00

I've added Vintage Porcelain Hummel Heads, broken from their figurine bodies, to my ETSY Shop. Perfect for doll reconstructs and assemblages.......I have many more heads to list in the future, too! Heads were unearthed from Thuringia, Germany (same town as the frozen charlottes and bisque doll parts)

...also, these bizarre vintage (1970's) bendable rubber dolls......kinda grotesque, but great as armatures for your own original doll....

practicing Yoga in the Nude

MY BIG PRIZE!

2011-06-13T21:37:00.000-10:00

Last week I was told by Ray of LARK BOOKS that i was their big facebook winner

The Biggest and Bestest Gallery Book

Giveaway in the History of Our

Universe.....

(a random drawing from everyone who commented on their post) JUST LOOK at this amazing prize!

...it came in 5 boxes.....
24, yes TWENTY FOUR of their thick gorgeous art inspiration books- - chockful of marvelous artists in every medium and incredible awesome art........a whole library of eye candy! just look at those titles!

Thank you Lark Books!
(...and especially Ray!)
Lark Books ROCK!
Lucky, lucky me!

New Toys!

2011-06-12T21:58:00.000-10:00

My DH (Lance) was so smitten with my Singer 66 Red Eye that he has started to collect antique sewing machines. The red eye was made in America in 1910 and has gold and red decals with a "red eye" pattern. The picture below is the newest one that just arrived from England - a 1939 99K....it came in a beautiful wood case with a key lock and accessories, in perfect working order and gorgeous condition. The "k" means it was made at Singer in Scotland, the largest factory in the world at the time with over 7,000 workers and 1 million square feet. The 99K is the little brother to the 66, being 2/3 the size. He also bought another beauty off of ebay, a 1918 "lotus" 66K....which will arrive any day now. It is called a lotus because the decals are gold and green with Egyptian lotus motif.

...please ignore my totally messy shop table.....

.....and a few new things in my Etsy Shop!

pewter gargoyle necklace

...a seated pewter cherub stone angel, about 2 1/2 inches high....

the stone angel has cute butt cheeks peaking out from the drape.....

Remembering Mama

2011-06-09T10:14:00.000-10:00

5 years...oh my, hard to believe! Today is the 5th Anniversary of my amazing mother's departure from this earth. I am sure she is enjoying many a new adventure in her new dimension. I love that she stills comes to me with her infectious laugh and big expressive eyes in my dreams. So calming!

...miss you mama......sigh.

New Pewter for My ETSY Shop

2011-06-07T17:29:00.000-10:00

...a few new items I have made for my shop that will be listed soon.....

these are already made, so what you see is what you get....

A delicate silver plated pewter bird with a swarovski wild heart AB crystal on a sterling silver chain. The neckchain is also sterling..

...two vintage silver plated forks formed into a bracelet with a sterling clasp, pewter bird, and stainless steel split rings.....

a pewter crow with 2 wild heart swarovsky crystals hanging from sterling chain....on a stainless steel ball chain....

...another crow, this one without the crystals, and a dark patina...

a pewter skull on a stainless steel 4.2 mm thick ball chain....

a pewter troll (with quite a GRIMACE!) on a much thinner ball chain....

i like his little butt....

Finished projects, at last....

2011-05-30T20:32:00.003-10:00

MORE PEWTER......

gargoyle miniature- about 1 1/2 inches (he's on a stand ...and he's pewter (silver colored) not gold...must be the light i used.

...This is a set of 12 chinese zodiac marbles that I just finished.......

monkey

rat

tiger

chinese dragon

rabbit

snake - it has 2 heads, one on the top and one on the bottom..

and then i just finished.....

these 3 all have similar features- but are different - rat, goat and ox
hmm
i seem to be missing the rooster........

tiny skull beads

crow bead - made this without feet too, and patinaed the recesses black.....

hand beads...i also made even TINIER hand beads, about 1/2 this size....

foot beads

bottom of foot beads

front of troll

back of troll

tiny charms (i din't make these...but i have a bunch of 'em)

large skull bead

heart back...

Add caption

heart bezel? (another one i didn't make)

wedding charm back (another i didn't make)

front

tiny bird bead

angel miniature

fat cat

haven't added anything to the shop yet, but if anything interests you, let me know .....
tomorrow is mow day... after i go to the dump and the post office, that is. If i have time i will post pics of DOVE EARRINGS (suggested and made for the fabulous JANE) as well as the progress I have made on my LEATHER PURSE. So far, so good. I did have a problem with $99 sewing machine. haha! so Lance bought me an antique singer red-eye (1909!) which is supposed to sew thru the leather like butter. It has been given an electric motor, but Lance is converting it to a hand-crank.... Stay Tuned!

News Around The Shop.....

2011-05-22T23:02:00.000-10:00

making my own molds...i attach sprues of apoxie clay. I am using smooth-on omoo 25.

I cast the silicone in paper cups and some plastic hallow blocks. i slice the mold partially to remove the molded object . when i cast, i close the mold up with rubber bands.

these are beads- hands and feet are about 5/8 inch

a tiny horse charm who stands on hs own...this one i did not make....he came on a stand that said "manowar" that i cut off....

a cool crow that i molded and cast,,,,,he has a hole thru his neck to make him a bead.....i'm going to patina him with black in the recesses and then shine the rest of him up!

i am doing a series of 12 chinese zodiac "marbles" for a custom order....i had molds for all except the monkey, so i made my own. This is how he turned out. he has a cute tail on the back. i also remolded the rooster because the detail on the original mold was so unclear. tomorrow i will cast the rooster and then the series will be done, AT LAST! then i will clean up all my pewter stuff (i have molds, sandpaper, pewter scraps, dremel bits etc etc all over the shop!)
Once the shop is cleaned up i will get my sewing machine out and start putting together 2 different leather purses i have designed.......i bought some beautiful hides from Tandy leather that were on sale....so i am excited to get going. ...i LOVE trying a new creative outlet.

ARTHUR PORTER LEATHER CLASS YOU MUST TAKE!

2011-04-20T22:15:00.002-10:00

While in Dallas I discovered the most amazing leather artist - located in, of all places, the main floor of my loft building (Southside at Lamar Lofts). Arthur Porter is the artist in residence at Dallas Designing Dreams. Arthur teaches children and adults - and gives generously of his time and talents to needy and troubled children. He teaches them not only leather skills, but also marketing so that they can set up a business. His motto is "when we serve others, we are serving God".
I wandered into his shop one Saturday after seeing a flyer about a leather cuff enbellishment class he was offering. Arthur's shop was ASTOUNDING! GORGEOUS GORGEOUS purses, belts, cuffs, chaps, clutches and hats. I asked Arthur if he offered a class in PURSES and he said yes! 10 hrs of instruction, set your own hours.
....and so I did.
I picked out one of the purses he had designed that I liked. I didn't want to waste time on designing my own pattern at this time - i just wanted technique.
...and technique I GOT!
Arthur let me pick out any leather i wanted (from a HUGE assortment). he went thru types of leather and weights of leather. what would work and what was too heavy or too thin. Then i picked out a lining. Arthur showed me how to use a rotary cutter the RIGHT way. How to cut straight and accurately. Then he had me use the INDUSTIAL SEWING MACHINE - only you don't sew with the motor you turn the hand wheel so your stitching stays very accurate. The motor is on, but you barely use it to keep the wheel unlocked. I learned how to put in the zippers, finish the leather edges and how to install rivets, eyelets, studs and snaps. The class was one on one and FABULOUS! Arthur also gave me patterns for this purse, several clutches, cuffs and a hat. He had me practice rivets, snaps and other findings as well as stitching, on leather scraps.
NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE teaches leather purse making - I was able to make a purse in 2 1/2 days (OK, it took me 18 hrs, not 10 - but i talked a lot to his apprentice, Debbie)
I can't wait to make another one!

Purse I made
here's a slideshow of my purse making. I forgot to take pictures of all the steps, but here's most of it.....there are descriptions for many of the photos, but i can't get them to appear on the slideshow....

Be it ever so humble- there's no place like home....

2011-04-20T22:07:00.000-10:00

HOME!
yep... my journey is over! here are some highlights from my trip.....and a separate post for an AMAZING class i took in Dallas...... I had hoped to do some visiting of friends and family that lived nearby on my days off, but i was contracted for 6 day weeks and a "day off" really never happened.

OK...here's a summary. ..i tried to keep a diary, with pictures and souvenirs and illustrations like my friend Kara does when she goes away on trips, but i never got past 3 days. The best laid plans....

When i first arrived in Dallas the company put me up at the Ritz Carlton in downtown. 12th floor. Fabulous view. Fancy. Valet everything. Great restaurants.

Maid service. YAY.
But after about a week, this got real old. I had no SPACE....and 6 more weeks to go!
SO
I opted to move into the SOUTHSIDE AT LAMAR LOFTS.....(really, check out the link) which just so happened to be where the production offices where also located......so no more driving to work......just hop on downstairs... (3 minutes!) and my loft was across from the gorgeous gym which I was convinced i would do each day before work. (hahaha...that lasted about ONE DAY)

My loft was on the 9th floor- 2 bedroom, 2 baths 2000 sq feet......and no doors except the laundry room and the toilets...fully furnished with washer/dryer, cable tv and internet. concrete painted floors and 16 foot ceilings. On the main floor was the consierge and a dry cleaners. The building also had a cafe, a Carribean restaurant, a bar and a grocery store. Rooftop pool and sauna and BBQs. The basement housed the storefronts and living quarters of artists in residence...and a large art gallery. It was a very lively and friendly place to live...I LOVED it!

rooftop pool

night view from my loft

...i thought i had pics of the interior of the loft...but i can't find them!

The first 4 weeks i spent "prepping" - mainly going all over town location scouting - the script had a zillion sets.....

my niece Jenny came to visit with baby maggie. We had a blast! They came to visit on the set....I ran around on the set (outside a church) with Maggie on one hip and a radio in my other hand - barking out orders to the crew...,,
Somewhere I have the pics .....she's 3 and a beauty ( and so's her mom).
On the last day of shooting my artist friend Jan came to visit...we were shooting the :Longhorn Ball" at the Dallas fairgrounds an all-nighter.

Me and Jan
Here's another slideshow.....

After i finished the show i went to San Antonio where my sister Marianne and her hubby Frank live. Jen and I and maggie went to the San Antonio zoo. The butterfly cage was Maggie's favorite! ...I'd never been to a live butterfly exhibit before!

Then Jens and family went on a long needed vacation to Hilton head....Jens is a 2nd year medical resident.....Britt, Jens sister came over with her two babes. More BEAUTIES! My sister Marianne is sooooo BLESSED.

Izzy and Marianne

Britt and monster baby, Skylar Jr.

Izzy giving us a puppet show

Skylar destroying the puppet theatre

From San Antonio I flew to LA for a few days to visit my son Vince. Vince was in midterms, so I visited my long-lost friend Twink Caplan.

skewed view of Twink's turret (watching mad crows)

cool red chandelier in a red french room

Twink the bag lady

Twink's eclectic and bohemian house

Me....Twink

and i visited my dear friend Sandy and her husband Patrick

Sandy and I

and of course I spent some quality time with my son Vincent.

Vince and I

OWOH WINNER!

2011-02-18T21:42:00.000-10:00

I used the random number generator, and my winner is
Suz! from Katsui (Susan Reamy)
I have sent her an email.
Thank you everyone for participating and for leaving such kind comments on my blog!

STONE ANGEL et al...

2011-02-11T20:17:00.005-10:00

I got a new casting pot and a smaller ladle that pours from the bottom. The pot holds the pewter temperature constant so it will pour more evenly, and when my ladle is empty I can just redip the ladle and keep pouring.

Today I broke the number one rule of metal casting. I was using a stainless steel spoon to remove the dross (dirty slag that floats to the top of the hot pewter) and i forgot i had earlier taken the spoon out of some water. It couldn't have had more that a drop of water still on it, but when it hit the molten metal, the molten metal EXPLODED. I was lucky...i escaped with a red mark on my cheek and a minor burn on my shoulder. Fortunately I had safety glasses on - I wish I'd had my face mask on like I normally do and something more protective that a halter t-top.

This is a SOLID PEWTER (over 1 pound!) stone angel i just cast.......the angel is about 4 1/2 inches tall and is rough finished just like a real stone angel. Not sure what i'll do with it yet....I just wanted to try the mold....
and here are a few more items:

these pieces haven't been cleaned up yet. I saved the birds, but the hand and lion medallion I remelted.
I brought out some of my other silicone molds....not all silicone molds are made alike. the cheapy rubbery molds made by amaco I think...melt from the heat of the pewter. the little wings are from an old mold i got ages ago from australia, but it poured too thick ... pouring pewter takes lots of practice ...the better the pour, the less you have to clean up.

here i am casting into a double sided round mold....these are the ones meant to be put on a spin machine but i just clamp them together and pour, hoping for the best. the penguin and both kitties from yesterday are from this type of 2 sided mold. I didn't get enough metal into the mold fast enough, so this little guy goes back into the melting pot.

also some too thick pewter frames and a slew of skull beads.
I also ruined one of my new good molds. it made a delightful mama fox and her kit and a papa fox....but whatever it was made out of it started to bubble up brown goo.. . i thought it might have left over resin in it, but it turns out it was the mold itself melting and most of the detail in the mold was destroyed... the mold itself is in the black long one in the first pic. below are the pewter creatures that had smeared details. they went back into the pot too.

yuck.
live and learn.

NEW...in my ETSY Shop

2011-02-10T22:25:00.000-10:00

I have listed some pewter miniatures (and one bronze charm!) in my Etsy shop. Come see!

...and a few more....

2011-02-07T19:44:00.002-10:00

I have been playing with my molds some more and I got 2 new ones......angel wings. one mold makes a tiny pair and the other is a multiple wing mold. I had high hopes for these molds.....

but alas - I was very disappointed! The big multiple wing is not the fancy one I expected.

pretty plain and undetailed...and VERY THICK! I think the molds were made for plaster, not pewter....

and the tiny wing.....

just weird formed.

oh well- that's the excitement when you have MYSTERY MOLDS.

But hey, look how cool this one turned out...and this is also a multiple mold...it makes 6 at a time!

It's a beautiful dove! I'm going to drill a hole in the tail so it can be a descending Holy Spirit dove.

and this is an ADORABLE tiny frog. Very heavy - a frog good luck piece to carry in your pocket.

Then I decided to try and cast my round rubber molds. These molds are made to go in a spin caster machine. The hot pewter would be poured into the center as the mold was spun at 4500 rpm's (it says so on the mold!) I put rubber bands around the mold and clamped it as tight as I could with bullnose clamps and I held it up on edge and poured the pewter in the center slots.

sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. it was hard to get the pewter into the farthest crannies...missing feet, missing tails on the teeny kitties...so I cut off the deformed bodies and made kitty-head beads! The teeny tiny bird molds I have it wouldn't fill at all...only part of a wing, no beak, etc. I will keep experimenting with those. I did discover that after 3 or 4 unsuccessful pours that I had a better chance of a successful casting because the mold was now hot and the pewter had more time to flow deeper into the mold. I finally got one big kitten and one little kitten to mold .. just one.

I can't really cast more than one or two at a time from each round mold....but at least with a little effort I know the larger molds are usable.

Once cast, the molds require a lot of finishing....I use a small handsaw to remove the sprues and extra pewter, and my dremel to remove the seams...then I polish the pieces with foam sanding pads from 150 thru 6,000 grit. Lastly I put them in my tumbler for an hour. The 4 little pewter pieces above haven't been polished yet. Later.

MORE mystery molds!

2011-01-31T22:04:00.001-10:00

tried a few more of the molds out. they were turning out a bit lumpy and bubbly with lost details....so i read up on it. many sites said to dust the molds with talc, but the majority said to use graphite dust. i also read that it helps to heat the mold a bit first, and to drop the pewter from a bit of height so it has air pressure to help fill the molds. i did some experimenting...heating molds with a craft heat gun, using no release, talc, graphite dust and mica (pearl-ex). i'll post those pics tomorrow.......meanwhile, below are the results with a bit of baby powder. still craggy but a bit smoother with better detail....click to see them bigger......

all of the molds i tried out today......

clockwise, 2 of the 3 bears (alas- i don't have the mama mold!), a bow, a crow, an egg holder.

and here are some more. the eagles really cool.

a nail polish bottle mold....which wouldn't cast...the bottle is solid, a thin area around it has been removed...and then it is solid again....so i guess it was to make a new hollow bottle......but it doesn't work..haha.

OWOH GIVEAWAY! WooHoo!

2011-01-30T22:02:00.000-10:00

Yay! It's that time again - One World, One Heart 5th annual (and last, sigh....) Blog Giveaway!
The purpose of the giveaway is for bloggers to meet other bloggers, make new friends and have fun!

For those who are new to my blog, I am a mixed media artist who is presently (as in this week) into metals and jewelry making. I also enjoy working with glass, and I am learning to carve wood and bone. I love power tools and collect them....now if i just knew how to use them! (...some of them scare me...but that's another story....) I live on Kauai in Hawaii....weather has been gorgeous this week....
This is what I will be giving away to one lucky winner.

It's not quite finished....it still needs the eye to be set and then to be polished but it's almost ready.

To win the bracelet, all you have to do is leave a comment. That's it! Only one comment per person. BE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR A WAY I CAN CONTACT YOU if you are the winner. You may post a comment from Jan 31st until Feb 17th. On Feb 18th I will draw the random winner. To visit other blogs (last year there were over 900! - and AMAZING things were given away!) please click on this link.

The bracelet is made from a vintage sterling silver plated serving spoon. It is quite large...if your wrist is small, the bracelet can be squeezed tighter... The finding is a vintage brass casting from the now out of business LeVay Glassworks at the Milton School House. Check them out! The Levay studio was abandoned for 20 years and the space is now being converted into a home and various businesses. But, the owners, Meredith and Joel, have discovered TONS of amazing art supplies and cool stuff. They are selling what they find to pay for the extensive refurbishing Visit them at The Milton Schoolhouse.

OK. Back to the bracelet. It has 2 naked cherubs and looks very Victorian. ....and of course the center is a doll eyeball set in a bezel made from a vintage watch part

....because, as all my friends know, I collect and LOVE LOVE LOVE eyeballs.

ENJOY! ...and be sure to visit the other blogs!

The Secret of the Mystery Molds.....

2011-01-29T20:44:00.028-10:00

My latest obsession has been collecting vintage molds from the extinct Levay Glass factory housed in the old Milton Schoolhouse in Alton, Ohio. The owners, Joel and Meredith are refurbishing the building and are selling beautiful glass artifacts found in the factory on ebay, and on etsy (Vivavivant) they sell the rubber and/or latex molds as well as objects found at the factory made from these molds and other supplies. YOU HAVE TO CHECK THEM OUT ON FACEBOOK!
These molds were my big Christmas gift from Lance this year...they are round hard rubber 2 piece molds with multiple items in each mold. I think they were made to be put on a machine and the pewter spun into them...i really haven't figured out how to use them yet. I have about 15 of them!.....most of them are various tiny birds, but i have lambs, angels, cats, hearts, crowns,swans and a few figures. I have tried polymer clay in them, but i haven't been very successful - yet......next i will try metal clay....

some of my molds.....
...and then there are the silicone molds...OH MY!

I have a HUGE 9 inch angel head with wings, a hummingbird, all kinds of columns and bases, frogs, kneeling angels...and a bunch of mystery stuff.

Meredith asked me to cast 2 of the silicone molds to see if they were what she suspected they were....since these molds do not come all the way apart, you can't see what they are by just looking at them.So what could I do? I was FORCED to try pewter casting. I had a casting ladle Lance gave me about, uh, 15 years ago.....that I had never tried. ...and i had bought lead free pewter scraps from Vivavivant. But i didn't know diddly squat about what to do.....so i googled it. I got a lot of demos, mostly bad or too complicated...and then I found a short you tube. It seemed pretty straight forward...... But was it dangerous? would my melting pot ladle get hot? did i need gloves? how long did it take to melt? would my torch be too hot? could i over heat it?so i just DID it. I had made some silicone molds of my own last week, so i tried them first - just in case the pewter melted the molds.

pewter in the casting ladle

melting the pewter with a plumbers propane torch

waiting for the pewter to cool...faster, faster!

my first pewter pieces demolded. lots of overspill on these...but they do clean up fast....

a pewter spatter...

Now that I knew the silicone molds wouldn't melt, it was time to ...cast Meredith's mystery molds.

Meredith's mystery molds

The first mold came out quite clear.

YES!...you had this one right, Meredith...it's.......

the worlds tallest man...who went to school at THE MILTON SCHOOL HOUSE before it was a glass factory......
The 2nd one....well it just looked like a weird roundish blob on a stand.....

see the roundy looking thing on a pedestal on the far right? I couldn't figure out what it was either...that's the one made from Meredith's mystery mold. there are also 2 skulls, a small bird, a sea urchin shell and a face in the photo, from molds i made. The hummingbird is a LeVay mold.
Maybe I had cast it badly, so I tried again. I waited for it to cool. But what was it?

front?

side

back
...and then i got the idea to turn it upside down...and woohoo - there it was!

MYSTERY SOLVED!
So sorry Meredith - I don't think it's a missing zodiac marble.....maybe the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland as a cabinet knob? Pretty cool, anyway.

What's On My Workbench....and RAW

2011-01-28T22:30:00.000-10:00

a steampunk pendant....vintage watch workings with hand cast by me bronze wings. The ceramic skull with glasses will be set in the watch part bezel with concrete. The had I got...uh, somewhere. The 2 swarovsky crystals are actually deep red, but they look purple in the pic. I'm still trying to figure out how to finish off the back....

I needed to flatten the back of the ceramic skull, and to put a divot on the back of it to accomodate the screw head that is holding on the bezel the skull will be mounted into. I'd tried to drill one of these skulls before - but I found it was impossible - I tried regualr drills, titanium drill, grinding wheels, diamond wheels, sand paper....nothing would penetrate - it was too hard. Yesterday I received my monthly copy of Jewelrt Artist" magazine....and it had a fabulous article on carving stones with a dremel and diamond burs. It said that diamond burs HAD TO BE USED with water. I did not know this. and guess what? It worked! See the tiny skull in the bottom left of the above picture? I was able to grind it flat and put the divot in it......in under a minute. Who Knew?

OK...more dremel info.. I have several dremels...my favorites are the stylus - a small battery operated one with a handle, and a bigger one - it's the one in the picture - that is also battery operated. The bigger one has a lithium ion battery that lasts a long time - it also has a much stronger motor. My DH got me 2 wonderful attachments.....One is a double LED LIGHT that screws into the dremel ...it works off the rotation of the tool itself, so it makes it's own power and turns on automatically when you turn on the dremel. It's the gray thing you see in the above picture behind the chuck...you can see the 2 LED's. The other attachment - and I truly don't know how I worked without it - it's called a dremel multipro keyless chuck....it allows you to attach any rotary tool attachment without changing the collets to accomodate the various bit shank sizes. What a time saver! That's a picture of it in the pic above - next to the light, with the diamond bit in it.

I was supposed to be doing an inchie a week and a ring a week (RAW). I am still behind one inchie, but I got caught up on my rings.

RAW Week 2 - polymer clay - " holding hands". Ring shank has a molded chain design but you can't see it in the pic.

RAW Week 3 -sea urchin, sterling silver bezel, pearl, found finding for ring base....

RAW Week 4 - Tiny brass spoon formed into a ring with a glass eye. Notice that I CRACKED the glass eye when I bore down too hard on the bolt that attaches the eye to the ring...I'll have to remove it and add a new eye....but al least this time hallowing out the back of the glass to match the ring curve will be easier now that I know to use WATER with the diamond burs.

Gorgeous Leather watchband!

2011-01-28T20:30:00.000-10:00

My husband Lance collects watches. This year, for Christmas, he got a beautiful Steinhart Ocean Green. He saw several sites online that were selling leather watchbands made from vintage leather ammo cases from WWII. He decided to try and make his own. Now Lance has never worked with leather before - but that didn't deter him...he is amazing at figuring out things! he ordered a few tools online and VOILA.

Hand cut from an old belt, hand stitched, hand distressed and hand embossed (with some of my letter stamps and a dime! He has since made 2 more and they just keep getting better!

Terrific Stamp Giveaway!

2011-01-21T17:05:00.000-10:00

Lori Anderson is giving away a terrific and whimsical set of metal stamps. Check it out!....just click on her name!

Cacao Pod #4, et al

2011-01-20T18:52:00.000-10:00

Here's the latest cacao pod, and pics of 2 of the others. I put my finger beside it so you can get a sense of size.

...the newest chocolate pod...teeny tiny.

pod #3

our first pod- which has gotten huge!
The pod is supposed to change color when it is ready to harvest.

beautiful kauai sky taken on my bike ride........

an ordinary ugly moth....except this one is actually 4 inches long!

INCHIE MONDAY WEEK #3 - CARING

2011-01-20T18:37:00.000-10:00

...better late than never....

a quickie.....thank you, Martha Stewart!

INCHIE WEEK #2 - POWERFUL

2011-01-10T18:26:00.000-10:00

Here's my week 2 inchie. The prompt is POWERFUL. It's made of polymer clay....it wasn't meant to look gory, i just like red and black.......it's supposed to be a little hand touching a big hand.. making a heart. .i was thinking LOVE.....but it turned out a bit....warped.

Cacao Pod #3!

2011-01-10T18:01:00.000-10:00

Today Lance spotted a 3rd chocolate pod. YAY!

Above, our newest chocolate pod!
Below, all 3 pods. Pod #1 is about 5 inches. #3 is the baby,,,,it's pretty tiny...

RAW 1 (Ring A Week) ECLECTIC

2011-01-08T17:25:00.001-10:00

This is my first ring for the RAW Challenge. I made it from stuff lying on my workbench that had gone unused or else i had goofed up on and not used. I'm calling it "eclectic", to go along with the "Inchie Monday" week 1 prompt.

The bird is a bronze one i made, but I had drilled the bead hole crooked , so it just sat on my work table..seemed perfect to mount a flower coming out of his neck. I straightened out leftover sterling wire and threaded it with a red swarovski crystal, an orange (not yellow!) vintage flower bead and sterling crimps and ball bead. I strung this through the bird. I attached this conglomeration to a silver plated spoon end I had already hammered into a ring shape. The spoon ring was too small to fit any digit, so i opened it up a bit and drilled a hole through it. Then I took another piece of sterling wire and made a rivet head that i put through the bottom of the ring and though the bird....i touched a ball end onto this, and then curled the wire. Because it was too wiggly, I added more curled wire to tighten up. Still it was too loose, so i just super glued it in place. Pretty sloppy craftsmanship! If you tried to wear the ring, I doubt it would stay on your finger..... LOL.... not very practical - but then the challenge says the rings don't have to be useful - just rings!
Ring took about 15 minutes to put together,,,except i had to do it twice because the first time i ball torched the wire ends I MELTED the flower (I thought it was glass!).....so I had to get a new flower and start all over again.....

FAIRY FOREST - for REAL!

2011-01-03T21:24:00.002-10:00

Today was mow day...also start exercising again day. while i was , uh, "working out"...my DH came up to the shop window and excitedly told me to grab my camera and check out the neighbors yard next the side 2 acres.

JUST LOOK at what I found!

banyan tree with neighbor's house in background

this shows where all the mushrooms are...CU's follow:

see any gnomes?

Truly a FAIRY FOREST! Have you ever seen so many or such HUGE mushrooms? Look at the house in the background to see the scale. They are growing all over the roots/stump of a semi rotting banyan tree. It looks like there are several types of mushrooms.

MAGICAL!

INCHIE MONDAY - week 1

2011-01-03T20:35:00.004-10:00

Todays INCHIE MONDAY word was ECLECTIC. I took a piece of thin brass and squooshed it, opened it up, hammered it, folded it, hammered it some more...then i sewed it without any thread, and cut it to 1 x 1 inch. I splashed it with alcohol inks, and polished it a bit, and threaded some brass and copper ball end wires (attempted troll hair)that i bent snakelike. Then I wired on a bronze skelly hand . The whole thing was epoxied onto a piece of wilsonart laminate that i had cut 1 x 1. Finally it was patined blue and green.

Week One Inchie

CU...i'll probably add some Martha Stewart micro glass balls to that naked top edge (ok, and bottom edge...what can i say- the smashed brass was lumpy) i cut badly...it actually is SQUARE, but I took the picture at an angle...really.
.
I made two, both different. Thought I might make a 2nd set that at the end of the year could be used for a charity auction or raffle........ Visit this site http://everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/ to check out other Inchie Monday participants....and it's never to late to JOIN IN!

The BEST Christmas - A CHRONICLE

2010-12-30T23:06:00.002-10:00

2010 was just the best Christmas EVER! My boys, Vincent and Skylar, both came for the Holiday.

Here I am with ALL my boys:

Vince arrived on the 21st, from LA. His brother was supposed to arrive then too, but he missed his plane from New York. The next day was Vincent's birthday. I took him for a driving tour of the south/west side of the island. We traipsed up Waimea canyon only to find it totally fogged in.

a stop on the way up the mountain to waimea canyon before the sun went away
Then I took him to see glass beach,

we picked up Sky at the airport,
and then it was home for bouillabaisse with crab and lobster and scallops and birthday cheesecake!

SKYLAR

The next day we did some unfinished Christmas shopping, and then we had lunch at mermaids (ahi wraps) and then off we went to try ziplining in Princeville. They had 9 lines, including a 1200 ft long one, 150 feet over the kilauea River called "King Kong".

It was glorious! Of course I took 3 pictures with my camera and then..the battery died. my boys laughed - so typical of me!

Sky

Vince

rope bridge with deep gaps we had to cross....

KING KONG!

Vince and Sky racing each other on King Kong...they are so tiny you can barely see them...

After ziplining we came home to warm and welcomed delicious barbecued beef brisket sandwiches that Lance had made us.....

The next day the boys headed to Kealia beach for sun and snorkeling while I got ready for Christmas.

Unfortunately the weather was on again/off again with sun/rain and mostly they just got clouds...They went to Haena but the beach was closed because of the high surf.

Christmas morning was a blast...opening Santa stockings to Christmas music and a roaring fire on the flat screen!

Chalupa and Sookie fight over their presents

Dinner was prime rib with all the trimmings and lemon meringue pie.

Sunday the boys and I went to the beach in Poipu. A bit of sun here and there, but again mostly cloudy. But i didn't care! i was with my boys!

We stopped in Kapaa for yummy shave ice with ice cream on the bottom and cream on top.
...and then it was Monday morning.

Vince, Lance and Sky

...and my boys caught a plane for Honolulu,
It all went by so fast.

When I got home from the airport, I saw THIS in the mountains just outside our gate.

yep- it's a waterfall. In all the years we've lived here I'd never seen it before....

I really enjoyed Vince and Skylar.

...and I really miss them already.

an update - PLUS - pics from A WINTER SOLSTICE Swap!

2010-12-29T22:17:00.001-10:00

Look how BIG my chocolate pod has grown!

...and now there is a new pod, up higher on the tree....

We have had tons and tons of rain lately. So much, in fact that our "swale" turned into a mini river.....

But the dampness also brought lots of cool surprises.....

lots of wild fungi......

these are "jelly" mushrooms growing on an ironwood log. they feel really rubbery, and apparently they are edible - used in chinese cuisine.....not that i would dare to try them.....

...here are more of them.....

...and this is a giant hibiscus...look at that dreamy color!

...and this is a giant moth (about 4 inches) that did not survive the storm. I just love the tattered wings! I ordered some liquid silicone rubber and when it arrives I hope to paint it on the wings to make molds ...I also found a mynah bird HEAD. I did take a pic of it, but it is rather disgusting. I think it was decapitated by a cat...but i won't show the pic.....i put the head aside so maybe it will decay and bleach out and leave me a nice skull....

Several pieces of vintage sterling silver flatware I have flattened to use as the bases for cuffs....

bronze and copper clay charms....

cute little butts...i tried to give the trolls wire hair, but i couldn't get the resin to set up right, so I'm still working on it....

this a a vacuum tool i have had for a long time. For Christmas I got three types of plastic squares to melt in the platen and then lower onto objects i wanted to mold.

these are my first attempts.....

isn't this cool? I have to be really careful with undercuts or else the objects are hard to remove from the molds.....but it was fun experimenting and the molds are really detailed. I love molds. I collect them!...but i am trying my hand at making some myself now.

This year 4 friends and I had a "winter solstice swap". It was the BEST swap ever!
This is a handpainted and pieced canvas purse made for me by Fran Saperstein. Glorious colors! Isn't it exquisite! Fran also makes lovely paintings of all her travels.....

Look at the yummy lining!
....and this is the incredible charm bracelet I received from Amber Dawn - the Queen of Charms! Amber Dawn is FAMOUS for her macro-mini polymer clay cupcakes and other goodies.

Lucky Me! A whole collection of Amber's one of a kind ART charms!

Kara Klein sent me this stunning clutch made from hand dyed vintage crocheted linens. It is SOOOO elegant! Click on Kara's name link above to watch a video that interviews Kara as she describes how she makes the most AMAZING travel journal.

..and my last gift was made by Joanne Thieme Huffman -Joanne is a power artist extraordinaire ....she makes fabulous polymer buttons, metal jewelry, fabric books, banners, scarves - and DOLLS! My doll's name is "Cordelia" ...just look at the details!

She came with her own stand so she can be displayed, but i loved photographing her against the waves and dolphins on this body board.

For the swap I made cherry pit stuffed goddess dolls with skinny bodies, to be used as heat pads/cold packs. ....but i forgot to take any pictures of them. LOL.

October News

2010-10-26T21:11:00.020-10:00

My sister Gina and her husband Mark came to visit. They stayed in Poipu in a condo on the beach,but we were together almost every day. It was a blast! We did a lot of snorkeling and hiking and shopping and eating and...did i mention eating? SO MUCH FUN!

starting the 2 mile hike from Kee beach on the Napali coast....

hiking....

down and up and down and around again......

and around...again and again....

slippery rivlets...

steep hills

see the farthest mountain? we are going around THAT to get to the end...

breath taking views when you aren't swatting bugs or clearing the stinging sweat from your eyes....

...a warning....

one final rocky river to cross...

.....those who haven't made it......

the goal.
Big Deal.
....another beautiful kauai beach.

a nene (hawaiian goose)

Mark cracks his first coconut - from one of trees...

Gina and Mark enjoy coconut chai tea at Mermaids Cafe in Kapaa....and the yummiest ahi wraps!
t

dinner at Calypso with lance and I....

at kealia beach

the hindu momastery

a purple Radushka bead berry....

amazing anthuriums
...on another note, Lance has finally left Hawaii for the mainland - his first time in 10 years! he has flown to Colorado to look at some properties. He likes the Westcliffe Valley and Trinidad.
So yesterday I mowed and did the frond pick up all by myself. Which I didn't mind doing- I actually LOVE to mow (I sing, I say rosaries, I plan projects)....but I MISS Lance.
..I've been working in the shop - not as much as I should be....I think my muse went to Colorado with lance....
. I am working on a line of sterling silver spoon cuffs. Here's one with a bronze hand and a bronze eye (this is the last bronze eye I have - so no more of those in anymore projects)...

I just started one with a serving spoon, so it will be bigger - maybe man-sized! I'm going to put a winged skull on it. I finally figured out how to successfully rivet. Hallelujah.
I have also finished my skull rosary. It is a full rosary, with ceramic skulls from Peru for the Hail Mary's, pearls capped with bronze skelly hands for the Our Father's, a bronze centerpiece with an eye on one side and a spider in a web on the other ....with skelly arms as connectors, and a bronze gothic cross with hands holding a quartz crystal blessed by the Hindu Guru Brody here on Kauai. The other side of the cross has a large bronze skull. The bronze wings are riveted onto the cross. It is so long, that I added a short chain with a bronze bird dangle which has a skelly hook and eye closure to shorten the rosary into a double stand so it can be worn as a rosary. All of the bronze work was done by me. Oh. red garnet blood drops hang from the cross.

...a silly pairof earrings...vintage glass blossoms.drop garnets and sterling heart chain.

I am also working on a winter solstice gift exchange..for the last 2 years we have exchanged gifts for Hanukkah, but this year 3 people had to drop out, so we changed the theme. I am trying to get all my Christmas shopping done early...uh,huh. every year I say I am going to be wrapped and shipped with 2 weeks to spare so i can kick back unstressed and bake and enjoy the holidays...as yet i have never made the deadline...haha...but this year my boys are coming to visit, so i for sure want to be relaxed and ready form them!

yah, right.

MY cocoa tree has its first bean!

2010-09-24T23:31:00.000-10:00

I planted this tree over 6 years ago.....it was supposed to be fruiting in 5 years.....but since it hadn't, I assumed it was a sterile tree....or it needed a partner.....but this month it had little flowers (again!)....and one of them turned into a pod! Now I have to wait for the pod to get nice and long....then i will ferment it...dry it...and otherwise process my little pod to grind up into unsweetened CHOCOLATE.

...doesn't take too much these days to excite me.....

...4 MONTHS OF FLORIDA

2010-09-18T09:58:00.000-10:00

Here's a slideshow compilation of my summer in Southern Florida. I hated Florida at first, but once the weather cooled down (the locals said it was still hot as ever, but I had gotten USED to it) I really loved the beauty, the diversity, the culture and the never ending multitude of places to visit and see. All of the cast and crew were a joy to work with...no screaming allowed!

By the way, the show was picked up for a 2nd SEASON......so perhaps I will be returning there in the future.....

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN.....

2010-09-13T00:04:00.000-10:00

so much catching up to do! I was going to post a slideshow of people, places and events i encountered while in Florida, but I could't get "rock you" slide show to work......
Here's a video from my adventures with Captain Sassy and the Sea Babes....

Snorkeling and rubber rafting the Atlantic ocean, drifting down the intercoastal and docking at any restaurant/bar that met our fancy.....what a blast!

This is Lynn, Diane, Elodie , Lisandara and I......

....this is me in the Mangrove Forest, captured by Cap'n Sassy during a rather contemplative filming moment ..

...the smoke machine had run out of gas, the treasure hole needed more dirt and the sun was setting fast.......

This is Diane, my "Key 2nd" assistant director....also known as Captain Sassy. Diane is a fantastic Key 2nd (I'd work with her ANYTIME!) and a boat Captain. She is also a super fisherman. She taught me about "pain in the asses" and OTHER popular intercoastal drinks.......

.....and this is Lisandra and I.....Lisandra was the Additional 2nd AD on the show ...She too, was a terrific AD and a blast to hang out with.

This is a picture of our super efficient no nonsense (haha!) lively Production Assistant (PA) Jackie. We were doing a photoshoot of a a pirate and his mistress circa 1753 and the extras that were sent just did not fit the bill....so we conned jackie into doing it....and the location asst. Diego....(boy did i get in trouble for that one!)

Jackie normal (if there is such a thing):

Jackie for the photo shoot:

...the wench

her photo together with Diego was made into a painting and put into a faux historical book "The History of the Magdalena" ...about a sunken treasure and a GLADES episode theme.....

....and here is the 2nd tarot card I did for the Tarot Collective. All cards had to have a blue line on them...that was the only uniting element. This is the 4 of wands. Usually I make my tarot cards with a digitalelements that i collage, cut and paste, paint, etc. Because i was not in my studio at the time,it is totally digital.

4 of Wands

Look what came in the mail!

2010-08-08T14:46:00.001-10:00

I haven't blogged in a very long time- but I had to acknowledge some cool i art I received in the mail...

beautiful miniature cupcake...

Polymer clay cupcakes...and feathers, and spider webs, and leopard purses, and a bird and a leg. Aren't they all wonderful...all made by the talented polymer miniaturist and charm maker extraordinaire.... Amber Dawn

...and a gorgeous antique handkerchief poppy pin from fiber artist Lorri Scott

and a plethora of various glass eyeballs!
I also got my 2 boxes of Chunk o' Junk.......from 1 Saleaday.com...but i made a dumb video about that that i will post later.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

2010-07-26T15:22:00.000-10:00

I have been home for a few days now- an emergency health issue with my DH...He is fine- had to have an angioplasty in Honolulu for an artery obstruction...The weather is a pleasant break from the humidity in Florida....Lots to get done -

mowing,

...side 2 acres all mowed...

frond pick up front

..and back!

back acreage still unmowed....

laundry,

Outdoor laundry room unwanted guest I felt no guilt expelling...yuck! he ran in as I opened the door and disappeared....I sprayed and left. When I came back he was upside down by the door wiggling his legs. Gross. Big, too, about 2 1/2 inches!

playing with the pups,
opening an abundance of cool packages that arrived (another post!)

4 of Pentacles.Tarot

as well as doing a smidgeon of art in the shop.....

I go back to Florida on Tuesday night......

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

2010-07-04T12:55:00.000-10:00

Well it has been a long time since I last posted! The show is going well, it airs NEXT SUNDAY...July 11th, at 10pm on A&E. It is called "THE GLADES".
South Florida is beautiful and very exciting. Their is an amazing cultural diversity here, and although I am sure there are gangs, etc, the blending and acceptance of differences is inspiring. There is SO MUCH to see and do...when i have any free time, that is...
The weather here, however, SUCKS BOULDERS! It is hot hot hot, and even worse - HUMID- gross humid. When we work outside you can count on sweat literally running off your face..and down your butt crack...like you poured hot slimy water over your head.....pointless to even THINK about wearing make-up...and your hair gets all frizzy ........and you have to drink A LOT of water to stay hydrated....your clothes stick to you, and then we blow wind and debris for the scenes and you get that stuck all over you too. You go home totally grungy and disgusting.
Now I can see why people like to vacation here for THE WINTER.
The ocean water is NOT refreshing...it's too hot!
...but there are wonderful corals and shells and rocks to collect on the beach.
...and weird snail shells.....and everywhere are all kinds of lizards...even giant 2 foot ones. We even worked at a park that had wild MONKEYS in the trees!
Here are a few pics from the filming the other night. We were blowing up a house...actually we dressed the windows and door to look blown up, and then we just made a big fireball and blew debris out the window. It was way cool.

My Key 2nd Assistant took this video. Here are some pics I took.

we used a lot of smoke and it was way ethereal......

Today we were going to have a beach party/barbeque - but it has been rainy.thunderstorms all day. Not the typical sporadic rain then sunshine - nope, overcast and hard rain! So the party's been moved indoors...but I am content to stay cozy in my condo and catch up on my emails and blogging...and perhaps some photoshop art......a glass of wine, candles, music and a bath...aaaaah.

Hopefully it will clear up enough for fireworks on the beach...

I AM HOME!

2010-06-01T07:58:00.001-10:00

Just for a week-but it is a delight to escape the hot humid weather of Florida and the drudge of work! Flight home was a pain- 14hrs! ..but i am recovered now.
DH has indulged me with great meals and adventures. Yesterday after Lance had washed and detailed his bike,we went on a motorcycle ride up and down our roads/highway. Everyone was really friendly, horns honked at us, waved. Lance was so proud of his beautiful pristine motorcycle! I had my arms around Lance most of the time..., occasionally I would hold onto the back pegs to wave back. Keep in mind I wear a huge helmet and I can't see down past my chin.. When we got home and I got off the bike to open the gate......
...and i realized my entire LEFT BREAST was out of my top......sheesh.
you can't take me anywhere.

this and that.....

2010-06-01T05:32:00.002-10:00

This is the view from my 12th story condo front window. The building is on the ocean,but my condo faces the city and overlooks the "intercoastal". It is really beautiful. Southern Florida is so alive with color and culture....the summer weather sucks, but the state is beautiful.

This is a pic of the finished charm for Fran, which i finished in Florida.

...and some pics of the skull rosary i am working on. The Hail Mary's are ceramic skull beads from Peru and tiny pearl rondells. All of the other components are hand sculpted/molded and assembled from bronze clay. I LOVE the bronze clay...and can't wait to try the copper and the white bronze.(but this will have to wait until September when I am back full time!)

This is the front of the cross. The hands will hold a quartz crystal. It will also have several garnet "blood" drops hanging from it.

This is the back of then cross.

This is the front of the center piece. The back is a spider web and spider.

I couldn't decide whether to make the "our father's" with pearls capped on 2 sides with skeleton hands, or to use a cobra spine bone with one long skeleton arm/hand wrapped around it, or lastly use smaller skeleton birds. I may just use skeleton birds sitting on cobra spine nests.
what do you think?

AND THE WINNER IS........

2010-05-08T17:14:00.000-10:00

My Giveaway Winner is....
Artsy Fran! Congratulations to Fran, and thank you everyone who participated!
I notified Fran earlier in the week...I had hoped to post a pic of the finished charm....I'll try and do it tomorrow...work is intensive - i start filming on Tuesday....So far, knock on wood, Florida is a blast and the people I am working with are terrific!

GIVEAWAY...International Charm Day!

2010-04-28T04:50:00.002-10:00

Below are some charms I am finishing up for "Charms for Charity" an annual charity fundraisers from Metal Clay Group. They are all made of bronze clay,but not quite finished. The "red cast" you see on the metal is the reflection of my red tee shirt!

Today is International Charm Day, and to celebrate, I will be giving away one of my new hand sculpted bronze skeleton bird charms. it is a bronze bird with a skull head and skeleton hand wings and tail,perched on a white pearl nested in a skeleton hand. Typical my style of charm..... ~~I will post a picture later in the day~~, Here's a very bad pic,but it will give you an idea......both charms below are unfinished, of course. i will post finished pics as soon as my tools arrive from Kauai and I can finish them! The giveaway will be this Sunday, May 2nd at 6pm EST (I'm in Florida!) All you have to do is leave a comment between now and then! Be sure to visit the other bloggers who are also celebrating this charming holiday and check out their giveaways, too!
http://www.internationalcharmday.blogspot.com/

FACEBOOK AND YOUR PRIVACY - IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

2010-04-25T08:28:00.003-10:00

Facebook is changing and expanding the ways they share your information - and if you don't change your settings and opt out - you run the risk of all of your information AND your friends information, responses, etc being public. They are tracking everything you do and selling it to thousands of companies. This is an article from the New York Times. If you click on the link to the actual article you can read even more warnings at the bottom of the page. Here's the complete link. In light of what happened to me, being hacked, you NEED to opt out of this! Remember- the hacker used my facebook info to personalize their money plea letters to my friends list.....
April 23, 2010, 3:12 PM
How to Opt-Out of Facebook’s Instant Personalization

By RIVA RICHMOND

This week, Facebook’s introduced the “open graph,” a giant expansion of the “social graph” concept on which Facebook is built. The word “open” alone should be a tip-off that there are significant new privacy issues to weigh.

In the open graph, Facebook sees us as connected not just to other people – our friends — on Facebook, but to myriad things all over the Web. These things could be favorite bands, news outlets or restaurants. It’s a potentially powerful idea – Facebook wants to uncover all these interests and predilections and let us share them with our friends, whether we’re at Facebook or somewhere else, in ways that could deepen personal connections and help us discover cool and interesting information.

But there’s a price paid in privacy. Facebook deems these “connections” to interests and businesses and content to be public information — along with your name, profile picture, gender and friend list. And it intends to make them very public through new “social plugins” and “instant personalization”.

If you like the idea of broadcasting which articles and bands and restaurants you like, you’re in luck. But if you’d rather keep your personal preferences private, beware. The instructions on how to reverse it are below, after the jump.

Soon, Facebook users will be invited to declare “connections” while on other Web sites by using several new Facebook buttons and features, all identified by the Facebook icon, including opportunities to write comments about content on these sites. (Site developers will add them using Facebook’s new social plug-ins.)

If you click a Like button or make a comment, know that you’re authorizing Facebook to publish it on your Facebook profile and in your friends’ news feeds. Also, when Facebook friends of yours visit the same site, they may be informed about what content you recommended or added there, and you will see their activity, too. Facebook says it will not share any of your data with these sites.

If you don’t want your activity to be published publicly, don’t use these Facebook features.

Facebook also wants to expand your “personal and social experience” on the Web by marrying your life on Facebook with your existence on partner Web sites — for now, limited to Windows Docs, Pandora and Yelp, but expect that list to grow. It will let these sites use your public Facebook information — again, your name, profile picture, gender, and “connections” — so they can, say, tip you off to bands and watering holes that your friends recommend.

There has been some controversy about instant personalization, because Facebook has automatically opted in its 400 million plus users. TechCrunchreports some Google employees are so disturbed that they are unplugging from Facebook altogether by deactivating their accounts.

Facebook has been walking users through the new arrangement and related settings, including presenting them with an opportunity to opt out. You can also reach the settings and opt-out via the Applications and Web sites page. Click “Edit Setting” beside Instant Personalization and uncheck the box on the next page beside “Allow select partners to instantly personalize their features with my public information when I first arrive on their websites.” You can also opt out by clicking “No Thanks” in a blue Facebook bar that will appear at the top of each partner site the first time you visit.

Note that even if you opt out, your friends can still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experiences on these sites unless you block each of their applications manually. To do that, visit the “Applications Settings – Authorized” page and scroll down to the “External Websites” section, click “Profile” for each application and then the “Block Application” link on the top left of the profile page.

This is also a good time to double check your application privacy settings and make sure they reflect the information you’re comfortable letting your friends share about you. Check or uncheck the boxes based on your preferences and save your changes.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/how-to-opt-out-of-facebooks-instant-personalization/?src=busln

YOU ARE WORTH THE TIME...

2010-04-24T08:23:00.000-10:00

this is wonderful! I got it from my friend Lorri who got it from her friend Sharla.

THANK YOU

2010-04-16T21:19:00.000-10:00

I just wanted to thank all of my friends and family who put up with the pitiful letter everyone was sent when my facebook and email accounts were hacked. I appreciate and am very grateful for your concern and caring!
I still don't have access to facebook yet (tomorrow I hope), but i do have my email accounts back.
How did this happen? perhaps i clicked on an infected website or maybe it was the unknown person i emailed to ask if I knew them on facebook before I accepted them as a friend? Who knows.
I did delete all of my contacts in my address lists - so i will have to go searching for your addresses or else look them up in a book i keep. A bit of an inconvenience, but far better than the embarrassment and hassle of being hacked and phished! Had I answered my sons phone call at 3:30 am (my time) i could have gone online and frozen the accounts before so much damage was done - I won't do that again! the hacker started their conversations and requests on facebook.....my son got his on his phone......
Be sure sure sure SURE! that you have entered tough SECURITY QUESTIONS for all of your accounts so that no one can change your passwords or info unless they can answer the security questions first. I learned the hard way.
THANK YOU, AGAIN - YOU'RE THE VERY BEST!